10 Nigerian Foods You Must Eat Before You Die (Part I)

There’s a wide range of Nigerian foods available today. The wide variety of ethnic communities found in Nigeria means that the nation located in West Africa has a varied and rich culinary tradition. Like other West African countries, most Nigerian Foods uses spices and herbs in combination with palm oil or groundnut oil in order to create deeply flavored sauces and soups often made very hot with chili peppers. There are some staples and ingredients that cross the country’s state borders and there are lots of Nigerian foods that are not mentioned here but these are some of the foods we recommend you try when next you visit Nigeria. Nigerian foods consist mainly of rice, yam, cassava, plantain, and beans just to name a few. These are prepared and eaten with the various soups and sometimes stew recipes. Some Nigerian foods can also be prepared in Jollof or porridge form.

Nigerian Foods You Must Eat

1. Agidi Jollof

This delicious Nigerian food comes with a soft bone inside otherwise known as (Okpukpu Agidi). It is a very light food that can serve for either lunch or dinner and can also serve as a snack. It is usually wrapped in a leaf known as Uma leaf but you can also put it in a plastic container, or even aluminum foil. It’s a low-cost food, all that is needed is just a few ingredients to prepare, This is a must eat food for every Nigerian home.

2. Pap (Akamu or Ogi)

Made from corn, this traditional food, when combined with Akara, Fried plantain or Fried Yam tastes so great. It is also a very nice and nutritious baby food. Evaporated milk added to Akamu, gives you a great taste.

3. Nkwobi

This is a super Nigerian delicacy from the Eastern part of thr country simply prepared by mixing a well-cooked cow foot or cow head with a spicy palm oil paste. Usually served in exclusive restaurants. It goes very well with any kind of drink.

4. Tuwo Shinkafa

This food has its origin from the northern part of Nigeria It is prepared with a special quality of soft rice. It goes down well with Northern Nigerian soups and some other Nigerian soups as well.

5. Nigerian Groundnut Soup (Peanut Soup)

This is a very great substitute for Egusi soup and both share the same method of preparation. Some of the ingredients you need are peeled groundnut, assorted fish, meat, palm oil, fluted pumpkin leaves, crayfish, salt, and pepper.

6. Ji Abubo (Yam and Vegetable Sauce)

This is known mostly with the Igbo’s, and it is one of the most delicious and nutritious delicacies in Igbo land. It consists of boiled yam served with a rich nutritious and peppered vegetable sauce. The meal is mostly eaten for breakfast.

7. Bole (Roasted Plantain)

This can come in two ways; the ripe and the unripe, whichever you chose, the taste is great. It is most common in the South-South (Niger Delta) and South-Western parts of Nigeria. Bole has gained wide acceptance across various southern cities and can be found in restaurants served as lunch.

8. Plantain Porridge

For this particular food, its preparation is fast and easy but that doesn’t cancel the fact that it is very rich in iron especially with the unripe one. It goes better with dried fish, or if you like, meat. The vegetable addition is a must for this delicacy to get the best out of it.

9. Abacha (African Salad)

Just as the name implies, it is a purely African Salad. Though most people still see it as a complete meal on its own, it is good to be taken as an in-between meal. Abacha is made from grated cassava. The meal often goes best with palm wine or any other cold drink available.

10. Ugba (Oil bean)

Oh my! Ask an Igbo person about this, he will tell you a better story than I would ever do! It can also be served with Abacha or eaten on its own when well prepared with assorted meat cut in tiny pieces, mostly cow skin or what Nigerians know as kanda or Ponmo.